A few decades ago, there was a foreign kitchenware brand Japanese admired a lot at then department stores. That was Henckels from Germany. Zwilling J.A. Henckels is their present name, being a German kitchenware company with a high reputation.
Some of their knives are produced in Seki, Gifu, Japan although they are from Germany. It means the forging skill in Seki is as high as appreciated by a German big name.
Their “Twinfin Multi-purpose Knife” is said to have gotten the most popular in 2015, amongst their lineup. Zwilling is also one of their brands, whose symbol is twins. It features the higher ones in that company. Nobody denies the popularity, because it looks very sophisticated and you can smoothly use however you grip although consists of left-right asymmetry.
That one can be a candidate for the first kitchen knife in your home. Like the product name shows, multi-purpose knives are available for cutting most as meat, vegetables and fish.
"Twinfin Multi-purpose Knife" (Large)
No.: 30847-180 / Blade Length: 180 mm
Weight: 160 g / Price: 10,800 JPN (tax in)
Don’t be overconfident in the knife, however. Kitchen knives have the history they have been developed and classified by application. Namely, for cutting large fishes and small fruits, there are better knives than the multi-purpose ones. Multi-purpose means not getting full marks on all the subjects, but keeping moderate scores on all.
Picking the best bits from Japanese and German, they produce the knives. But it is more important mentioning about how comfortable you can feel on the use than stock of knowledge. Trying once lets you understand why the ones are very popular.
※Photos by Zwilling J.A. Henckels Japan